Your squirt boat looks like a "Blaster" by Jesse Whittemore. I think the current state of the art has a lot more volume scooped out of the rear deck. Have you built it?

P.

> I tried three or four whitewater boats at the kayak expo.

> One was only about 8 ft long! It spun out, and after a few minutes
> I found I could keep it straight if I concentrated on doing so. Another
> was about 13 ft long, and it went reasonably straight, and I felt
> that because it turned easier than some of the sea kayaks I'd paddled,
> it was easier to keep it straight.

> In the sea kayaks I had to think about corredting when the boat
> drifted off course. In the whitewater boat it just went straight by
> instinct, without much effort. I probably had a tiny bit of a waobble
> to my paddling, but it was not detectable to me. I did find that the
> effort was not alot.

> There was one or two sea kayaks I really liked, because they
> went faster with a bit less effort, and as pointed out, carried their
> momentum. But, if we are seeking momentum, why are we looking for
> a lightweight boat? The sea kayaks I did like tended to be narrow
> and turned easily (lots of rocker?) The Caribou (Picture Below)

> Not all whitewater boats are made to turn on a dime. I would
> guess there are sea kayaks that resemble whitewater boats, and vice
> versa. If you look elsewhere on this bbs you'll see a stitch and glue
> I've been drawing up. Some people have given me advice that would
> make it more like a sea kayak, which is good advice for a real sea
> kayak. One person told me I had re-invented the "Squirt Boat".
> When I asked what one was, I found the description matched what I
> was trying for. (Click link below) Now if I can build it (or get someone
> else to build it and report on how it handles) I'll see how the design
> matches or deviates from my expectations. I'm thankful for the advice
> I got. Since I'll be doing short trips in tight spaces on flat water
> for quite awhile, I decided that the trends that I was advised to
> design out were desirable to me. The only trend I worry about is pitch-poling
> (pearling) in surf.

> The point: Not everyone wants the same thing. Nor does one person
> necessarily always wnt the same thing. If I ever paddle to Catalina
> (26 miles across the sea) I'll want a straight tracking seaworthy
> long slim kayak and a reliable eskimo roll. But for what I'm doing
> right now, I like a whitewater kayak that tends to go straighter than
> most. A whitewater kayak does not, by definition, have to be super
> squirrely. I've paddled whitewater playboats, and I'll bet theres
> whitewater kayaks for straight downriver racing which track straight.
>

> Everyone is different, and our tastes may change as time goes
> by. I used to surf on a 5'8" Thruster. Now I have a 5'10"
> twin fin. I'm getting older, so, the longboards are starting to look
> better now.

>